The Multnomah Neighborhood Association has released a list of scheduled monthly speakers that reads like the booking list for a quality, local public affairs and politics show.

Tuesday, Aug. 13 — Rep. Andrea Salinas, House District 38, will appear at the MNA Summer Pot Luck at the Multnomah Arts Center. Shortly after the latest session of the Oregon Legislature ended, Salinas volunteered to meet with constituents and listen to their concerns.The pot luck begins at 5:30 p.m. (See story page 12).

Tuesday, Sept. 10 — Suk Rhea, Director of the Portland Office of Community and Civic Life, will share with the Multnomah Neighborhood Association the status of efforts to rewrite the city code that governs such associations. Proposed changes to Code 3.96 are controversial, to say the least. (See story page 3)

Tuesday, Oct. 8 — Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz will make a joint appearance with Michael Jordan, who heads the Bureau of Environmental Services. Jordan oversees the bureau that's in charge of the major, expensive overhaul of sewage systems surrounding the stretch of Southwest Capitol Highway south of Multnomah Village to Southwest Taylors Ferry Road. Work on that $25 million infrastructure project is set to begin early in 2020. (See story page 2) Commissioner Fritz will be making one of her last appearances before the association as a City Council member. She's not going to run for re-election in 2020.

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020 — Andrea Durbin, Director of the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, will address the issues surrounding the density debate in Southwest Portland. Her bureau is steering the effort to rezone Portland and will be working with state planners to implement HB 2001.

Multnomah Neighborhood Association chair Maria Thi Mai says inviting high-profile politicians and bureaucrats to speak is one of her "strategies to increase engagement, hosting a speaker series as a way of addressing issues important to the neighborhood and a variety of interests," she wrote in an email.

Monthly meetings of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association are held the second Tuesday of each month at the Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 S.W. Capitol Highway, and run from 7-9 p.m. These speakers are scheduled to appear. Check www.SWNI.org/Multnomah for the most current information. The meetings are free and open to the public.

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